Chapter 102: I wish we did.
>Venz
I pressed the gun harder against his skin. The veins on my hand looked like they were about to burst from how tightly I was gripping it. My finger rested on the trigger, ready to pull at any second.
I didn’t know what was happening to me anymore.
The rage inside me had completely taken over. It no longer cared about reason, logic, or consequences. The moment I saw those pictures, something inside me snapped.
Days of standing helplessly while my wife was missing had already pushed me close to the edge. Then the pictures of her and Kaizer kissing spread everywhere online like wildfire, and whatever control I had left disappeared.
Right now, I felt capable of killing anyone.
It felt like I had lost my wife for the second time.
My chest rose heavily with every breath. My throat tightened painfully, and the necktie around my collar suddenly felt too tight, almost like it was choking me. Breathing became difficult. My head pounded with anger, exhaustion, and fear all mixed together.
"Answer me," I growled.
The gun clicked loudly between us.
Kaizer didn’t even flinch.
He slowly closed his eyes for a second while the pictures slipped from his hand and scattered across the floor. Then he stood up straight and looked directly into my eyes.
"Do you really want the truth?" he asked quietly. "Or do you just want to hear what you already decided to believe?"
Neither of us blinked.
The room fell silent except for the sound of my rough breathing.
My jaw tightened hard at his words. Maybe because he knew exactly the kind of person I was. Maybe because a part of me knew he was right.
But that only made me angrier.
"I love your wife," he admitted.
For the first time since this started, I saw something break in his expression. Sadness flashed through his eyes before disappearing just as quickly.
"I loved her even before your marriage."
My brows furrowed in confusion.
"What the hell does that mean?"
Kaizer let out a slow breath. His eyes dropped for a second before returning to mine.
"The first time I found out about your relationship was when we met at the office," he explained. "And yeah... it was stupid of me. I could’ve learned everything about you with one phone call, one command, one click. But I didn’t."
His voice became quieter.
"I don’t know why. I just felt like I shouldn’t."
I watched him slowly raise his hand toward the gun still pressed against his forehead. Instead of pushing it away, he forced it harder against his skin.
"You think those pictures prove something?" he asked bitterly. "I wish they did."
My grip tightened.
"If we really kissed, I would gladly take that punch from you. I’d even thank you for it because at least it would mean I had one moment with her that was real."
The words hit me harder than I expected.
"But you’re being selfish right now," he continued, his voice suddenly sharp. "You’re letting your anger blind you."
I stepped closer, the gun still aimed directly at him.
"Watch your mouth."
"No," Kaizer snapped back immediately. "You watch yours."
The sudden fire in his voice caught me off guard.
"We are in the middle of searching for your missing wife!" he shouted. "Every second matters right now, and instead of helping, you’re standing here ready to kill the only person who can actually find her!"
The room felt suffocating.
"You think I don’t care about her?" he continued. "You think this is easy for me?"
His breathing became uneven, but he never looked away from me.
"I’m the only one who has the contacts, the information, and the resources to track her down before whoever took her disappears completely. So if you still want to kill me after we save her, fine."
His eyes darkened.
"But do it after."
The words hung heavily between us.
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
My mind was spinning too fast. Anger, jealousy, fear, guilt — all of it crashed together until I couldn’t separate one feeling from another.
Then suddenly—
The sharp sound of heels echoed down the hallway outside.
Fast.
Angry.
A second later, the office doors slammed open.
"VENZ! KAIZER! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING!?"
Mara stormed inside, her face filled with fury and disbelief.
Before I could react, she grabbed the gun from my hand with surprising speed. In one smooth motion, she removed the magazine, pulled the weapon apart, and threw the pieces onto the table in front of us.
The loud clatter filled the room.
"Have both of you completely lost your minds?" she shouted.
I stayed silent.
Kaizer looked away, breathing heavily.
Mara pointed directly at me.
"Venz, think for one damn second!" she yelled. "You know we can’t deploy all our forces yet. If the rival mafia notices our movements, they’ll know something is happening and they’ll move before we do!"
Her voice echoed against the walls.
"And what are you trying to do? Kill our only source of information?"
I clenched my fists tightly.
"Does your wife mean nothing to you!?"
That question hit me harder than anything else.
It felt like a bucket of freezing water had been dumped over my head.
Suddenly the anger didn’t disappear, but reality finally started forcing its way back into my mind.
My hand twitched uncomfortably at my side. I opened my mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out.
Because deep down, I knew she was right.
Kaizer suddenly stepped forward.
"I already found a lead."
The words instantly dragged my attention back to him.
Nothing else mattered.
"Show me," I ordered immediately.
Kaizer walked toward the monitor at the far side of the office. His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard before security footage appeared on the screen.
The video showed Eleina.
My chest tightened painfully at the sight of her.
She looked nervous as she exited a building, glancing over her shoulder before entering a black car parked near the sidewalk.
The footage paused.
Kaizer enlarged the image of the vehicle.
"No plates," he muttered. "It was a professional job...it’s the car. That’s our lead."
"Track the location," I ordered coldly.
Kaizer nodded and immediately started working again.
I didn’t waste another second.
Pulling out my phone, I quickly walked out of the office. The cold night air hit my face as I headed toward my car. My mind was already moving ahead, thinking about routes, possibilities, enemies, and backup plans.
I pressed the key fob, unlocking the car.
Then I dialed Alisha’s number.
The call barely rang twice before she answered.
"I already have a lead," I said immediately while opening the driver’s door.
But instead of sounding relieved, Alisha stayed quiet for a second.
"We found something in Eleina’s office," she finally said.
Her voice sounded tense.
Serious.
My grip tightened around the phone.
"What did you find?"
"I think we need to talk in person."
That answer alone made my stomach sink.
Alisha wasn’t someone who got shaken easily. If she sounded like this, then whatever she discovered was worse than I imagined.
Much worse.
"I’m on my way," I said quickly.
I ended the call and got inside the car.
The engine roared to life.
As I drove into the night, one thought kept repeating inside my head over and over again.
Please let it be good news.
Please.
